


"Look At Me" He Said (But No One Ever Bothered)

by Solena2



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Autistic Papyrus (Undertale), Character Study, Flowey (Undertale) Is Done With Your Self-Sacrificial Bullshit, Gen, It's Not Part Of The Story It's Just Important To Me That You Know, One Shot, Papyrus (Undertale) Knows More Than He Lets On, Papyrus (Undertale)-centric, Unreliable Narrator
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-14
Updated: 2020-09-14
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:55:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26465278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Solena2/pseuds/Solena2
Summary: Papyrus wishes people would see him as he was.
Relationships: Flowey & Papyrus (Undertale)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 67





	"Look At Me" He Said (But No One Ever Bothered)

**Author's Note:**

> I have Feelings about Papyrus

You don’t notice the way he looks at you, and you don’t notice the way he looks when he thinks you’re gone. The way he lets a split second of utter _heartbreak_ show before he puts the mask right back up.

It makes sense, right? You’ve always been unobservant, haven’t you? Poor stupid Papyrus, too naive to be told the _truth_ about how this world works. You never notice the times your smile is the only thing that can light up his face on a rainy day.

You’ve always been like this, right? Cheerful and hopeful and happy and vomit inducingly saccharine to everyone around you, it really is no wonder you don’t have any real friends, you know.

You do know, don’t you? You’ve known all along, just sitting there plastering a smile on that’s even faker than your brother’s. You’re waiting waiting waiting for someone, anyone, not to lie to you, just once, just a single time, and they’ll never do it. They’re so obsessed with the image of you they have in their heads that they’ll never bother to look beyond it, never bother to even attempt a glance under your perfect mask.

Because you’re happy, right? Why look harder at someone so obviously content with their lot and actually learn something about them for once?

Hahahaha. Haha. Ha. 

Are they even really your friends, in the end? The ones who claim to be, who hang out with you and cook with you and let you shower them in affection without ever giving you the frankness you want so badly?

You could probably disappear from the underground completely and they’d never even blink.

They’d mourn, of course. It’s not that they don’t care about you, it’s just…

It’s like the dead prince, isn’t it? You’re admired by all, the underground loves you, you have everything you could ever ask for, don’t you? Never mind that you might have aspirations of your own, desires beyond the ones they project onto you, you have everything so _perfect_ and how could you ever want anything else?

You don’t really want to be a royal guard, either, right? You just want to be respected. You just want them to look at you and see an equal, instead of a child.

And isn’t that hilarious? You aren’t a child, haven’t been for ages, but just because you see the world differently than they do, they assume you must be an idiot.

Of course, you are. You are an idiot. You’re stupid and naive and you really truly believe that everything would be okay if people would just _talk_ to each other for once.

But you’re too afraid of being rejected out of hand to do it yourself. That’s what they always do, they say your idea is great and they’re totally going to do that, of course!

And then they never do, and they won’t tell you _why_ because they don’t respect you enough to have ever considered anything you’ve ever said.

And your only friend is… Your only friend who tells you what he really thinks? Actually listens to the things you say? They’re- Haha. Some fucking sadistic prick without the slightest attachment to the moral ideals you’ve built yourself around. Isn’t that the greatest joke of all? That the only person who really listens to you will never agree with any of the things you have to say?

What a pathetic person, right? Why do you even keep going? Why do any of it? Why not just _give up_ and stop trying to impress people who don’t pay attention to anything that doesn’t fit their preconceived perceptions about you?

\--

Papyrus looked at Flowey, who was shaking slightly from the force of his rant. He could have gotten angry about it, he supposed. It would probably be entirely reasonable.

He knew Flowey wasn’t really talking about him, though. Flowey probably didn’t know he’d noticed, (or perhaps he did, and simply hadn’t said) but the way Flowey talked about whoever he used to be sometimes…

Well, projection wasn’t exactly the healthiest coping mechanism, but anything for his friend, right? Anything to keep the only one in his life who treated him like a person instead of…

Well, Flowey hadn’t been wrong about all of it.

“THEY LOOK AT ME AND SEE THE PERSON THEY NEED ME TO BE,” He said, idly fiddling with one of his gloves.

“IF I CAN HELP THEM BY BEING THAT PERSON FOR THEM, SHOULDN’T I?” 

Both of them were silent for a long moment, until Flowey’s angry expression morphed into a rueful grin.

“You should think about yourself once in a while. You don’t have a moral obligation to be a sidekick to everyone you meet, you know,”

“I WANT TO SEE THEM HAPPY,”

“Not everyone’s going to _be_ happy, Papyrus. Trust me, I’ve tried,” 

“BUT SOME OF THEM WILL BE. THAT’S ENOUGH FOR ME,” Papyrus could see from his friend’s face that he didn’t really get it. That was ok, though.

He was at least willing to try.

**Author's Note:**

> There are a lot of possible parallels between Papyrus and Asriel, I think.


End file.
